SUPER BOWL XXVI : BUFFALO BILLS vs. WASHINGTON REDSKINS : On the Surface, Bills Appear Better : Pro football: Buffalo’s attack is geared to artificial turf such as that in the Metrodome.

Of the NFL’s 28 teams, only 18 have played in the Super Bowl, which is fast approaching its 26th birthday. Yet the Buffalo Bills are representing the AFC for the second year in a row. And this time, they might even upset the NFC Washington Redskins.

For one thing, this time, the Bills will have their own kind of field.

From quarterback Jim Kelly and running back Thurman Thomas to their improving defense, the Bills were built to play on artificial turf. That’s their home surface, and they will be on it Sunday in the Metrodome.

Although the Redskins loom as the better team and the probable winner, consider this:

--They were built for Washington’s slower grass field.

--NFC clubs, winners of the last seven and nine of the last 10 Super Bowls, probably aren’t going to win forever.

--The AFC champion Bills, who lost to the New York Giants a year ago, 20-19, match up better with the other conference representative than any AFC Super Bowl team since the 1983 Raiders, who walloped the Redskins, 38-9.

Buffalo can be a force.

AT A GLANCE

In their no-huddle offense, the Bills (15-3) come out in a hurry-up, two-minute drill on every play. They will use it in a bold effort to set the tempo against the more deliberate Redskins.

“The no-huddle is just right for a team that has Jim Kelly at quarterback,” Buffalo Coach Marv Levy said Monday.

If the game is close, Buffalo’s chances will improve. For at two-minute rally time, Kelly simply goes on doing what he has been doing.

The Redskins (16-2) also can go to the no-huddle, but they aren’t used to needing to win in the last minute. They are more comfortable in a blowout.

The defensive question for the Bills is whether they can hold back the Washington tide with a one-legged all-pro, Bruce Smith. His is the most influential injury of the week, potentially, and for the Buffalo players the most ominous.

But they have these balancing assets:

--Many more Bills than Redskins are veterans of the pressures of the Super Bowl, which they remember vividly from last year.

--The goal of the Bills is to avenge last year’s loss. Therefore, they should be more highly motivated than the Redskins, whose goal is simply to win.

OFFENSE

During the 1991 Super Bowl in Tampa, Kelly still was running the Buffalo no-huddle ineffectively from a shotgun formation when, in the third quarter, he moved up under center. And with that, the Bills began running the ball.

They had learned, too late to win Super Bowl XXV, that it is difficult for a shotgun team to generate a ground attack.

A self-described sandlot player who calls the Buffalo plays, Kelly has remained under center ever since. And the one-back, three-receiver, no-huddle Bills have been less predictable and more formidable.

The Buffalo offense isn’t as sophisticated, however, as Washington’s.

After taking a handoff, for instance, Thomas usually runs a simple straight-ahead play.

And Kelly usually throws to receivers who cross so near the scrimmage line that Washington’s linebackers, even if fooled by play action, should be able to get back in time. Occasionally, Kelly will fling one deep to James Lofton or short to Thomas.

In the AFC title game 10 days ago, the Denver Broncos folded that offense like a paper airplane.

The Bills have stampeded other teams with their fast-break no-huddle, but they didn’t stampede the Broncos, nor can they expect to intimidate the Redskins.

What the Redskins fear isn’t the Bills’ fast break but Kelly’s impromptu play-calling and his swift, talented teammates: Thomas, Reed, Lofton, third receiver Don Beebe and tight end Keith McKeller, who has the skills of a wide receiver.

DEFENSE

If the Buffalo defense beats the Redskin offense, it will be a first this season. Nobody stops the Redskins.

The Bills’ defensive statistics aren’t encouraging. The Bills finished 27th in yardage given up this season--24th against rushing, 21st against passing--in part because their offense scores so quickly that the defense is often on the field.

In any case, they are worrying the Redskins for these reasons:

--The Buffalo defense has proved in recent weeks to be the NFL’s most improved.

--Great defensive play requires a lot of emotion, and the Bills should have it. They have planned for 12 months to get even with the NFC. And having experienced the pain of Super Bowl defeat so recently, they know exactly what’s needed now, mentally and emotionally.

--The Bills have more individual stars in their 3-4-4 defense than the 4-3-4 Redskins can bring up in theirs. Some of Buffalo’s:

--Jeff Wright. The 3-4 needs an exceptional nose tackle, and that’s Wright.

--Smith. On one good leg, Smith might be merely another defensive end, but he is still dangerous.

--Nate Odomes. As a cornerback, not bad.

--Cornelius Bennett. Seemingly bigger now than his listed 238, Bennett, normally a weak-side outside linebacker, is suddenly showing the anticipation, acceleration, quickness and weight to close down everything at the point of attack, no matter where it is.

The Bills are a linebacker team, and Bennett makes them even more so.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Levy came into the NFL as one of football’s first full-time special-team coaches, and his club reflects that heritage. His coverage people are well trained. A lengthy Redskin kick return is possible, given the Redskins’ attention to that side of the game, but unlikely.

In Buffalo’s special-team play, the weak link is kicker Scott Norwood, who misses a lot. With Norwood, the Bills ranked 26th in field-goal percentage this season. With Chris Mohr, they were fourth in net punting average. Their best special-teams player is coverage man Steve Tasker.